


7 of Hearts

by InsominiacArrest



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, Non-Binary Frisk, Post-Canon, good ending
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-12
Updated: 2016-09-22
Packaged: 2018-05-01 07:36:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 19,391
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5197646
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InsominiacArrest/pseuds/InsominiacArrest
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Frisk is determined to find the souls of the 7 lost humans. </p><p>alt: Sans has to deal with being a bit messed up and Frisk has to deal with growing up.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Request for Help

**Author's Note:**

> Pascifist run Frisk time line, major spoilers ahead.

Chapter One

A knock came at the door before you can pretend you're not home. You consider not getting up from the chair and just sort of, not responding?

“Sans!” A voice calls through the door.

You perk up slightly, okay, you get up. You reach the entrance way slowly and then pop it open.

“What’s up?” You ask, Frisk stands in the doorway smiling at you. Really smiling, like two shots of vodka later smiling.

“How’re you?” They ask serenely.

“Pretty good, kid. No ones needed anything all day…”

“Oh,” their face falls, “uh, how about just one request?”

You shove your hands in your pockets, “depends on what’s it about. I don’t have a lot of _skull_ z to offer ya’ know.”

Frisk snickers at the terrible wordplay, okay, they must really want something.

“It is kind of big.”

You close one eye. “Sounds like work.”

“I’ll do most of it! Toriel just said I should get someone to come with.” Their tiny hands wrap around the backpack straps, face filled with determination.

“Welp. You got me. What is it?”

Frisk looks around the hall and then back to you, “can I come in?”

“Oh, yeah,” You step aside, “it’s even clean in here. Pap was at it this morning.” Frisk nodded along. “Have a seat even.” A gleam twinkles in your eye.

However, Frisk deftly misses the left seat cushion and instead picks the whoopee cushion free zone. Darn it.

“I’ve got ketchup. Old spaghetti, and more spaghetti, you want anything?” You offer lightly.

Frisk shakes their head no. “I have a thing I have to do.” They begin.

“Oh yeah, kid?”

“Mm-hmm. And I need some help catching them.”

You lean in, eyes burning a little smaller, “who Frisk?”

Frisk leans back into the catch but looks into your face admittedly, “I have to save the other human souls.”

You tilt your head to the side. “Yeah. That is pretty big. Though, I hate to break it to ya,” You hesitate, not quite wanting to dampen the fortitude in their eyes. “But those souls, kiddo, they broke through the barrier when...whatever it was happened.” You feign ignorance.

“Yah.” Frisk nods furiously, “that’s why we have to save them. We owe it to them." They pause, "I do.”

“Right.” Your heart drops, “Welp. I’ll just say it. They’re gone Frisky.”

You expect Frisk’s little face to break, but it remains steadfast. “No. They’re underground. And I need to go get them, so they don’t lose any more...hope.”

You don’t know what to say to that.

“You got one hell of a funny bone kid.”

“‘m not joking.”

You sigh, “I know. But yeah. I’ll take ya.”

Frisk smiles, wide and toothy, eyes still shut. “It might take awhile. But they are waiting!”

“One question.” You stop them as Frisk hops up from the chair, “does Toriel actually know about this?”

Frisk's smile fades, “of course!” Their voice cracks as they say it, you shake your head.

“And why me?"

Frisk looks up at you, directly, solemnly, “you know.”

Your eyes darken, “Hmm?”

Frisk smiles again, “you know all the shortcuts.”

You exhale. "Right."

Frisk glances back at you anyway, “and Papyrus said you have a way with souls.” It was a grim statement.

You hang your head and stare at Frisk darkly, okay, they did have some idea about things. Frisk runs to the door before you can respond. “Let’s go!” They cheer.

“Right now?”

“I have a bag for us and everything.”

“I don’t know, it sounds like I need a two hour nap before even leaving this building.”

“ _Sans_.” It was almost a whine.

“Right. Right.” You get back up again, “Are you sure you don’t want another seat before we go?” You gesture towards one of the cushion.

Frisk opens their eyes wide enough to roll them, but runs across the room and jump on the couch in a burst of energy.

A long fart noise fills the room, you laugh, holding your sides, “oh my God. What kind of immature person leaves those around? I’ll have to have a talk with Pap.” You’re still laughing.

Frisk grabs your hand impatiently and pulls you through the door.

You both walk down the hall in a hurry, it felt weird to be led by them.

“Sans!” Someone calls down the hall, the sound of fast walking closes in behind you, “my drain is clogged again.” Again.

“Sorry, going on a long trip.” You wave behind you at the bunny person, “Undyne should be on it though.” You snicker, you’re job was easy...most the time.

" _Now_."

You were the basic landlord of casa de Monster, an apartment complex the humans afforded the community when they came above ground.

The humans at first rejected the hell out of all of you, realizing stuff from ghost stories was real was a shock to say the least, but they got past it. It helped the monsters had Frisk, an unharmed and cute kid.

Short story, they got a “Monster Village” in the human world. Sans took up the duty of landlord since never having to leave his house to do work sounded good to him.

The tenants liked all him well enough since rent was loosely enforced and he eventually got around to fixing anything broken. Eventually. It helped when he deputized Undyne into it as well.

“When?” The bunny jogged alongside them.  

Sans shrugs, “I don’t know, 3?

“Sans!”

You roll your eyes, how many times could they clog their drain? “Gotta go.” You say and grab Frisks hands and turn a corner, looking for any, yes, shortcuts.

You duck down a hallway and everything goes briefly dark.

They’re outside.

You breath in deeply. “It’s a nice day.” You look down at Frisk, “sure you want to waste it underground?”

Frisk nods resolutely, “gotta.”

You take their hand again, nothing was gonna stop that face, you lead them down a back alley until they are running into a thick boulder. Mount Ebott.

Frisk looks around in wonder. “We’re back.” You sigh, it was something else.

Frisk takes your hand and leads you up the mountain, you follow in a weighty silence. They climb, birds sing and you feel deeply unsettled.

“Here.” Frisk points at a doorway. It was where they came out of.

“You remember the way after all this time?”

Frisk doesn't answer, only keeps walking and marching in time to the setting sun.

“Hey, Frisk?”

“We’re almost there. We’ll be at where the barrier was.”

“Why do skeletons always use the doorbell?”

Frisk pauses, the stony look on their face wavers, “why?” They ask in surprise.

“Because they’re a,” You pause for effect, “a _dead_ ringer.”

Frisk groans.

“You’re smiling.” Frisk tries to hide their mouth.

“Skeletons need to leave their apartment first to ring doorbells.”

You chuckle, “fair point.” You grin wider, “and here I am!”

Frisk smiles, "Thank you.” They respond politely and seem a little less somber.

You lapse into silence as the old barrier location passes. You eye the ceiling, the walls, the pathway, but nothing happens, it's blank like an emotionless face.

“Should we worry about that flower?” You suddenly wonder out loud.

“Nu-uh.” Frisk doesn’t sound worried. “I haven’t seen him at all so far.”

You let go of their hand, “Frisk, you’ve been coming down here?”

They furrow their brow as they walk through the throne room, now surrounded by dying yellow flowers.

“Only a little.”

You shove your hands into your pockets, “don’t do that, okay?”

“Barely anyone's here.” Frisk points out.

“Yeah.” You grin wider, “and I’m not here either. Gotta watch out for you kid, remember?”

Speaking of which, you find yourselves soon crossing the ‘judgement hall,’ a chill passes through your bones, this was the place. Some notion of spending way too long in here for too many hours climbs up your spine. You shiver. So does Frisk.

They pass on into a long hallway, grey walls enclose them like a tomb.

“Alright, this is taking too long.” You announce, letting Frisk have their way for only so long.

“Oh,” they look surprised.

“Where do you want to go?”

They think, tapping their chin, “Asgore’s house first.”

“Fluffykins abode. Got it.” You take them around a corner and into the next room of Asgore’s very own bedroom. It was empty, you sneeze.

“Dust.”

Frisk smiles, “the whole place is like this.”

“Great.”

Frisk just smiles and wanders around the place, “but I didn’t explore very far. Come on.”

They look around the drawers, the curtains, through the rug and potted plants. You go through the motions of searching as well.

You are about to yawn and find out the quality of the beds when a ringing sounds in your ears.

Your eyes light up and you jerk your head to the corner.

Frisk looks up at you curiously, you stare fixedly.

"Do you hear that?" You whisper.

Frisk shrugs, "sometimes that happens."

The sound fades, you stay alert, “Frisk, what exactly are we looking for?”

“The souls.” They say simply. “They’re hiding.”

You shake your head, this was going too far, and you didn’t like the sudden eerie darkness descending. The ringing made your marrow crawl.

“Alright kid. I was gonna let this go on, but it’s time for the bone hard truth.”

Frisk examines you curiously, “it might take awhile Sans. But, hmm, I can uh, get you free fries from Grillbys in return?” They look lost.

“Free huh?” You say gently, “alright. Let’s do that. I can take us back right now.”

“No. I mean after we find the hearts.”

This couldn’t go on any further. “Why me?” You ask while looking up to the sky.

“What?” Frisk leans in.

“Let me show you something pal.”

“Then we can come back?” Frisk seems put out off at being pulled away.

“Only if you want to afterwards.” You doubt they would.

You don’t take a shortcut, letting the long tedious walk take its effect.

Frisk looks at you in concentration, then finally opens their mouth, “what did the human say to the skeleton as encouragement?” They ask with a tinge of humor.

“What?”

“Don’t let no- _body_ hold you back.”

Sans laughs, of course, Frisk looks on earnestly, “I’m not mad at you kid. Just need you to see this.”

They make it to the coffin room.

You step aside and let them peer into the area. Seven coffins all stand open, all empty.

Frisk arches an eyebrow, “I don’t think the souls would be in here.” They announce.

“Yeah, Frisk,” You try to be gentle, “they...left. With the barrier, and the bodies, actually, I don’t know where they are-”

“Flowey.” Frisk interrupts. “Flowey took the bodies.”

“What?” You look around, a feeling of fury welling up inside, why didn’t you know this? Then you think a little more clearly, Frisk was just being hopeful, “kid. They’re gone.”

“Look!” Frisk points in one fluid motion up to the ceiling. You snap your head up uncharacteristically quickly.

The ringing increases like a buzzing insect in heat, bent on causing on earthquake. You reach your hand out, striking out at the vibrating heart in the corner.

“Stop!” Frisk jumps on you, forcing your hand down. You use all your will power to not fling them across the room as well.

“Frisk!” You scold.

“It’s one of them!” They call and the air vibrates like it’s alive. The room crawls with blurring light, the colors of the room shimmer, and a foreign feeling of confusion overwhelms you.

The heart in the corner is clearly visible, beating to some unknown rhythm and causing a warp in your surroundings.

The lights blink off and on, the heart is gone.

“Frisk.” You say. “What was that?”

“It’s one of them. I haven’t seen any of the others, but this one's been…” They pause and shrug, “I’ve seen it a lot.” You had sudden energy to look into this, why didn’t you know about this? “The others are out there too.”

“So?”

“So,” Frisk smiles, “we’re going to remind them how to be determined.”

You have nothing but bad feelings about this.

You scratch your head, “Gonna give me a ulcer kid.”

Frisk giggles, “no, that's not possible.”

You hunch your shoulders over, “tell me if you ever see that one again, k?”

“Hopefully we can find it together.”

“Yeah,” you ruffle their hair, they swat you away as you mess up their short bob, "yeah. Okay. Where to next?"

They retrieve a pair of ballerina slippers from their pack, "Waterfall."


	2. Bloi!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry I deleted this and re-uploaded it, I am having so many troubles with ao3 to the point it won't come up when I click on it or show up in the Undertale tag. I think it's better now, idk.

“Hoi!”

“Hoi! I’m Temmie.”

“Hoi.” Frisk replies. You watch in amusement as Frisk gets down on their stomach and talks to the Temmies.

“Hoi!” They hoi at them, apparently learning to commune with the small creatures at some point.

You look around the dim village, it has the aura of a deserted tunnel and the smell of mildew, you turn to the Temmie closest to you.

“So, uh,” You still have no idea what they were doing, “come here often?”

The Temmie looks at you blankly for a long minute, then turns its head forward, “boi!” It walks the other direction. It was a burn by a Temmie if ever he saw one.

“Welp, not doing that again.” You turn back to the kid and their Temmie cult.

They were still hoi-ing at each other.

There were only a couple Temmie’s left obviously, but more had been trickling back in after the above world was deemed by some as ‘un-cute.’

“Could I boi some information?” Frisk finally asks slowly, petting the Temmie’s as they noticeably vibrate in front of them.

“Temmie ned to go to gradscul!!” One of them, the one with the cap bursts out.

“Heck yeah, Tem.”

“Git Tem PHD.”

“I mean yes, alright, in Tem history.”

“Cool-leg profeszors!!”

“Tem, have you seen any glowing hearts?” Frisk cuts the chase, you snicker and cover it up with a cough when they glare over.

“Hoi!”

“Is that...yes?”

“Hoi! I’m Temmie, this is my friend...Temmie!”

Frisks sighs, “hoi.”

You wonder around the Tem village, it remarkably resembled the village the Tem’s built above ground too- the one you had to keep giving building violations to as they constructed monuments and did some weird shit in the basement you didn’t want to think about.

“Hoi!” You jerk your head up when noise comes from the wall. 

You approach curiously, a crack in the wall reveals a pair of ears, “what’s shaking, Tem?” You ask the sliver of a face in the wall.

“I wait.”

You consider letting her out. It’d probably been awhile.

“Seen any glowing heart?” You ask just in case.

“Bloi!” You freeze.

“What?”

“bLoi!” It's head is nodding.

“Friiisk!” You call over, they look up and bounce to their feet, “Got a _cat_ -call for you.”

“Wow Sans.” They trot over, “it’s not even a fight and you want me to flirt for you.”

“Ha, ha.” You grimly point to the wall, “bloi.” You imitate the noise.

“Bloi?” Frisks’s eyes get wide...ish.

“We were talking about hearts.”

“Hoi, seen bloi??” Frisk was a weird kid.

“From in the wall?” Sans mutters.

“Babe Tem!” Oh.

You turn around to the little Temmie vibrating in the corner, her aging mom stood next to her.

Frisk turns to it earnestly.

“Well, that’s cool.”

“Was that the cooked egg?” Frisk comments under their breath.

“Don’t think about it too hard.”

They make there way over.

“Hoi! Bloi!” Frisk addressed them and...got to the point?

“My name is Bob junior.” The Temmie speaks.

“Oh thank God.” Frisk exhales, “have seen any glowing hearts uh, Bob?”

She nods, “blue.”

“Where?”

You grin, you were finally getting somewhere after several villages.

“Waterfall.”

“We were just there.” Frisk sounds frustrated.

“It floats.” Bob sings and vibrates much slower than the others.

Frisk continues to question it but that seemed to be the extent of the information.

You shrug, “guess we're going back to waterfall then.”

“Yeah.” Frisk shoulders slump, “One last plan.”

“Cool, kid.” Frisk gives a weak smile. “Where do you want to go?”

Frisk contemplates, “I think I have to walk around some to remember where it is.”

Your mood drops. Walking. Right.

“You can stay here if you need to.” They offer, noticing the look on your face.

You look around at all the Temmie’s crowding the place, wide eyed and staring blankly ahead.

“Nah, I’m good.” You close one eye, “besides, they don’t really get my jokes.”

“Tem can tell joke! One Tem in hot in the leg-”

“And we’re off.” You cover Frisks’s ears and head out.

“Alright.” Frisk nods and you follow them out into the dark grass and glowing mushrooms, it was pretty if you’re into that sort of thing.

They walk. And walk. Florescent plants pass by and the sound of rushing water becomes static noise to the adventure. Your feet start to hurt.

“Hey Frisky, don’t you think the place is some where near?” Please, dear lord. The kids willingness to drag themselves across this empty grass land was impressive.

Frisk nods, “yeah, I think I am remembering, it’s just up ahead.”

They cross yet another bridge and you comment dryly on the exciting scenery change to the exact same scenery.

Frisk gets their bag out, you watch carefully.

They extract a pair of ballet slippers. Oh. _Oh._

“So, what’re we doing buddy?”

“Waiting.” They reply, placing the slippers in the middle of the tall grass.

“Hmm." You shrug, "Better than walking I guess.” You sit down, Frisk comes by and lies down on the bridge next to you, keeping eye level with the shoes. “So, the blue, excuse me, bloi! heart will…?”

“See their shoes.” Frisk says solemnly, “and they’ll remember to be determined... Or at least show up.”

“And we’ll uh, what with it?”

Frisk smiles and takes out a butterfly net, “catch it!”

You nod slowly, letting the kid have their fun.

They watch the shoes intently, you do your regular thing and try to entertain them.

You get a few chuckles and then Frisk starts yawning and shifting around restlessly.

“We could go home ya know.” You offer after the fifth yawn.

“No. We’ll get them.” Frisk shifts around, “just…” They get up and crawl up to you, you raise a brow curiously.

“It’s boring.”

“Well, come here, I tell Papyrus like 5 bedtime stories a night.” Maybe you could sneak them into bed after that.

Frisk climbs into your lap happily.

“Alright, this one's about a very calm skeleton. You know why?”

“Cause it’s you?” They settle down on your thigh bone.

“No cause,” you close an eye, “nothing gets under their skin.”

Frisk groans and struggles in your lap.

“Gotta leave right now.” They joke and move to get up,

“Okay, okay, real story. I don’t know, how about Tem history.”

“I already know that one!”

“Yea?”

Frisk clears their throat, “hoi! Long history.”

You laugh unexpectedly.

“I got one.” You tell them a story about the Woshua and a very long attempt to get clean. It’s an allegory.

They interrupt you habitually to remind to watch out for any ghost hearts. Of course, soon enough, they nod off, falling into a sleep softly against your collarbone. Nice.

You congratulate your strategy, didn’t have to forcibly drag them home or anything.

You consider getting up, but realize, their little head was softly bobbing up and down on your ribs. How you could disturb that?

It was also a perfect time to take a long nap. Tenants could survive 3, maybe 12, hours without you.

Of course, that would be if you didn’t hear the echo flower.

“I’m ready, hehe,” your eyes go wide, that was Flowey. “I’m ready, hehe.”

It kept going in a distant whisper, your force your eyes open and watch the room intently, feeling ready to bolt if any plants start springing up.

You’re grinding your teeth anxiously, rubbing a circle in Frisk’s back when something finally appears.

It bobbed to the surface like pulled up by a magnet, then, slowly, cautiously, rose in the air and pulsed with light. The sound of a clear violin follows the dark blue heart like a far off haze of mist. It moves in quick graceful circles, floating to the ceiling and aimlessly circling the lights.

“So, you _are_  still kicking.” You observe with interest. It hovers and dips and dives, transparent yet surprisingly active.

It seems harmless enough, though you don’t like when it starts floating closer. Or at least that’s what the buried paranoia insists.

“Shoo.” You shoo it. It floats nearer, circling the two of you curiously, like a dog following a scent trail. Your eye glows, you take a brief amount of energy to flick it backwards. It becomes more attracted to the pair of you after that.

You consider tossing it to the other side of the underground, no need waking Frisk or getting them more obsessed with this then they already were. It’s not like anyone could do anything with the hearts, these souls couldn’t just get pumped and come back to life. They weren’t Frisk.

 

You decide against it when you realize, it was pretty heavy, and you weren’t up for that right now.

“So, uh,” You address the twinkling dark blue soul, “you need something? There’s a mouse hole over there, so if you're feeling determined…” It doesn’t respond, you shake your head, “Nevermind.”  
If it understood you it wasn’t showing it, ignoring you, and going in dizzying loops, like it was chasing it's tail. It twirls until it runs into a wall.

“Welp, I guess that’s why not all humans made it.” You chuckle darkly and start to wonder what to do with it, a loose human souls could be used for a lot of things, but capturing seemed like work, and there was nowhere to put it.

You should talk to Asgore.

 

You’re watching it do a loop de loop when Frisk starts to stir, rubbing their face to your jacket and shifting in place. Oh geez.

“Well, nice meeting you.” You pick up the dark blue heart and toss it across the cavern.

 

Frisk rubs their eyes and looks around, blinking awake slowly, “did I miss anything?” They ask groggily.

You smile wider, “nope. Just regular cave life. Real dull.”

Frisk pushes on your shoulder, “you didn’t even fall asleep.”

“You’re snoring kept me awake.”

“Tch. Good.”

The echo flowers begin to resound louder, you feel uneasy. You look around, “maybe we should go?”

Frisk frowns and grows impassive, “we didn’t find anyone.”

“Frisk.” You pause, “there isn’t anything here.”

“But-”

“And nothing to do for them.”

“They’re human! I can show them how to come back, I owe them.” They look at their hands and you feel a little guilty.

“Home then!” You pick Frisk up easily and resolve to end the little outing.

“Can we come back?” Frisk makes a pitiful face.

“Sure bud.” You agree and put the kid down, Frisk rushes back over to the ballet shoes and puts them in their pack.

“So they don’t get taken.” Frisk explains.

“We’ll have better luck next time.” You take their hand and turn a corner. Back to the apartment complex and out of Flowey’s voice and the dark blue heart. Out of sight, out of mind, right?


	3. Strings and Things

You sit at the cafeteria table, lazily picking at half a meatloaf.

“No, darling, you see Burgerpants, where ever he got that name, is far too crass for the nice cream salesmen.”

“That’s why you should tell him to go after the Nice cream guy! He can reform him.” Alphys was looking at her fanfiction with great scrutiny, encouraging Mettaton to make it real.

“Why not go back to, uh, Toriel/Asgore writing dear?” He tried to put it gently he was not going to be setting up his underlyings with other salespeople.

Sans watches with a distant interest. Normally he’d hunt down his bro and see what he was up to, but he had made a pledge to watch Mettaton. Watch him since he began bringing Papyrus on his show more and more often. And hanging around the apartment. And inviting eating dinner with Papyrus.

It was suspicious.

“I dunno, that ship seems sunk after she even denied having tea with him the other day.” She looked perplexed and then they both glance over at you pointedly. You wave at them with lackluster.

“Got a lot of time on your hand huh, Alphy?” You comment. She did. Being fired from being a royal scientist did that to people.

“Well,” She pauses, “I have a couple more shows to catch up on. Did you know they’re making an anime about dinosaur magical girls??” She seems excited.

You chuckle, “that’s pretty...magicdactyl.” Wasn’t your best.

Mettaton rolls his eyes subtly, a disdain for puns was something he and your brother had in common. You watch him more carefully.

“I’m already getting cosplay ready.” She takes out pictures as you look on absently. "I've got some preliminary outfit designs too."

You and your two tablemates go over what kind of material dinosaur magical girl’s would wear when Frisk walked into the cafeteria too.

They carrying more flyers than you though such a little person could hold, hobbling around the tile floors, papers slipping to the ground and shoe untied, you try not to look on with pity.

Each flyer had a little heart on them and some words of 'help,' you’d seen these posters on every other surface at this point.

“They’re still at it.” Mettaton sighs and puts his chin on his hand, “how sweet. To think we ever collectively tried to murder them at some point.”

“Hey,” you lean back in your chair with one eye closed, “speak for yourself.”

Undyne comes in to speak to Alphys, they apparently kicked her out of the kitchen after starting another fire. Your friends were at least not boring.

You tune it out by putting more condiments on your meat loaf, it soon turned into a red and yellow tower worthy of a monument.

“Sans.” Undyne interrupts you. “There is more heating issues on the second floor.” She hits him on the back jovially, painfully. You grunt under her enthusiastic contact.

“As my deputy,” you say slowly, “couldn’t give you too much trouble.”

Undyne crosses her arms and pouts, “We need some sort of specialist. That’s not me apparently they said.” She grumbles.

“They didn’t appreciate her bringing Pyrope in instead of fixing it.” Mettaton whispers wryly. You can see how that would be a problem. Being a landlord was actual work.

“On it.” You get up to leave when you notice Frisk talking to Muffet animatedly.

“The furnace is in the basement.” Undyne says in confusion as you go the other direction.

“I’ll be right back.” You stride across the noisy hall.

Muffet is nodding and gesturing mechanically at Frisk, something was going on.

You loiter just outside their personal space.

“-I’m so glad you asked, I’ve been watching it closely for awhile and was thinking of what to do. It’s fortunate I didn’t eat it after all.” She grins pleasantly with all her fangs.

“Watching what?” You approach mildly, trying to come off as disinterested.

Frisk turns to you with a huge smile on their face, “she says she thinks she seen it.” They hold up a purple heart poster.

“Yes. It’s caught in one of my webs in the underground.” She pronounces lightly.

Frisk turns their head quickly, “And you can take us?”

Your stomach drops, you still had the nagging feeling you should deal with these souls on your own, there was only so much Frisk could do for them. Or what would happen if they tried.

“Come on.” Frisk takes your hand again.

“Yes, I can very well show you. It’s in my parlour.” She turns to scuttle away, “I suppose it would be a bad idea for these, hmm, ‘things’ to be floating around. They broke down the barrier after all!” She sounds cheerful. “That and you of course dearie.”

“And some more help.” Frisk says quietly. You give them a sidelong glance, they still hadn’t been very clear about how the barrier broke.

You insist on using a shortcut to Mt. Ebbot, no way were you going all the way there by foot, Muffet seems very reluctant but comes around when Frisk points out it meant less time in the sun.

She agrees and they find themselves in the core again, the ground becoming purple velvet under their feet.

“I haven’t been here in so long.” She remarks, wiping her fingers across a layer of dust from a bake sale stand.

“How do you know it’s there then?” You ask curiously.

“The vibrations dearie,” she explains, “something struggling in a far off web.” She pauses, “it felt like a human soul.”

She glances at Frisk with all eight eyes, she knew what a human soul felt like a web.

They enter her parlor slowly, carefully, as she tidied up as they went, respinning web and clearing off the walkway.

  
“Is it up ahead?” Frisk was getting impatient, bouncing in place and surveying the place  scrupulously.

“It should be in the corner,” they reach the end of the walkway. “There.” She points with three arms to a heavily webbed distant corner of the room. “It’s been struggling there for awhile now.”

Frisk nods, “I’m gonna go get it.”

“Wait, wait,” Muffet says graciously, “let me spin a stronger path for you.” Frisk tilts their at her, “so it’s easier to get to.”

“Okay,” Frisk affirms, “but no one can touch it.”

“Except you.” You input.

“Yeah, cause I can’t absorb it. That’s what some of the monsters said.”

“Yes, yes, I won’t absorb the human soul, I don’t know why I’d want to now.” She looks at Frisk cheerily, “we’ve raised enough money for a swimming stadium you know.” Humans loved weird bake sales it turned out.

Muffet traverses from wall to wall making a sturdy web from the walkway to the corner, Frisk stares at it fixedly, it seemed to be glowing purple. Huh.

“Anything on your mind kid?” You finally ask.

“It’s not in waterfall.” Frisk says slowly. “The notebook and glasses were there.”

“They must be free range souls ya know.”

“Yeah,” Frisk holds the bottom of their shirt, “I just don’t want them to get too..lost.”

“Hmm.” Sans thinks about this, “they’re human, they’ve got some determination left.”

Frisk frowns, “fading would be...bad. For them. And us.”

“I’m sure whoever this is will keep it up.” Unless you mess with it.

Frisk picks out an old notebook from their pack and holds it up, “they’re a poet.”

“A good one?”

“...No. But if I read it to them.” Frisk hesitates, “it might remind them to ‘save’ themselves.”  
Ugh, saving, though re-setting was worse. At least this Frisk promised not to go back again. And you’ll watch the kid for the rest their life if you have to.

Not that you minded.

“Sure thing.”

Muffet finishes the sturdy pathway and gestures to Frisk to start climbing,

“Here.” Frisk hands you there pack and the dirty notebook, “I’m just going to go grab them.”

“Be careful out there.” You're not too worried.

“I’ll be fine,” They smile up, “I’m almost 11.”

They start hanging from the web and make a sticky journey across the crisscrossing strings.

Muffet scuttles back and sits down next to you.

“There very set on this.” She chirps.

“You bet your ass.” You assert, she scowls at you for the language, you try to think of a pun about eight legs.

“Well, I’m glad I could help, not eating them was a very good decision.”

“Right.” She made his job harder though.

Frisk makes their way towards the glowing light, hands in the clusters of silver string and held aloft by all the sticky threads.

The purple light in the corner seems like it brightens.

The climb doesn’t look easy, or at least it was boring to watch. You imagine closing your eyes and laying back.

Frisk finally starts digging into the mass of dry cobwebs, pressing their small nails into the mess and yanking the threads out on by one.

Muffet does not seem pleased, “all my good work,” She mutters.

But the heart slowly starts to become visible, one tendril attack at a time.

“Wow,” you state, “they do seem like they're getting to the _heart_ of the matter.” You snicker, Muffet rolls her eyes.

The heart starts to vibrate, which seemed like a good thing.

Frisk presses their hands in, carefully weeding out the twine to reach for the heart directly.

The soul starts to vibrate more, struggling under its constraints.

Frisk was talking to it, probably something soothing and _heart_ felt. What a kid.

You grow concerned when the purple light becomes intense, web becoming loose as it cut through the string, moving erratically in its cage.

“Shh,” Frisk says loud enough to hear, finally grabbing onto the soul with both hands.

Your eyes almost burst out of your head when the soul rushes into Frisks hands, or at least out of its constraints. In a massive burst of energy it cuts through the web and burns up the cobweb and...they’re falling.

Falling backwards out of the mass of cobwebs and into the abyss.

You reach out violently and catch Frisk in midair, their red heart glowing in the dark, the purple heart tumbles from their hands from the impact.

You quickly guide Frisk to a hanging string, hoping that Frisk thinks it was the heart, or ghost, or something other than you. Not that you didn’t suspect Frisk already knew you could do that. Somehow.

Frisk holds on for what looks like dear life as they look down into the pit, tears stain their small face.

Muffet jumps into action and swings across the chasm, grabbing Frisk in two of her arms. Frisk doesn’t struggle.

They make it back in a ‘whoop’ of graceless legs falling on the landing.

Muffet puts him down, “oh my, I didn’t see that coming.” She dusts Frisk off earnestly. “Poor thing.”

Frisk looks down at their hands and then wipes their tear stained face.

“Hey, pal,” you kneel down to their level, patting their back sympathetically. “It’s not your fault, there is nothing we could do.”

Frisk looks up in frustration, eyebrows bent downward, “why didn’t you catch him too?!” They demand.

“Uh,” you sit back little bit. “I dunno what you’re saying kid.”

“You should have caught them too! Matty.” Their voice broke, then he looks off the landing, “And now he’s down there.”

They point to the abyss and looks forlorn.

Muffet looks between them, lost, she hadn’t seen you pick Frisk up. Thank God.

“Well, these things happen. Im sure it’ll come back.”

“Yes.” Muffet claps her hands, “you never win on the first try anyway.”

Frisk gives her a very blank look at that.

“What if he loses hope now?” Frisk crawls to the edge, the darkness is all that fills the space.

“Who?” Muffet seems confused.

“Matty.” Frisk croaks, “Rodriguez. I grabbed his soul and he told me his name, and I thanked him and he asked me where the fish lady was, he had to get away from her.” Frisk frowns deeply. You frown deeply and Muffet blinks several times.

“Humans are very resilient dear.” She pats him on the back, “just look at you.”

“He gave up on the docks.” Frisk says hopelessly.

Ugh, this was getting depressing.

You pick Frisk up with your hands casually, they were pretty light, “let’s go home bud.”

Frisk holds on tight to your jacket as you carry them across the walkway, eyes still red and leaking, Muffet follows hesitantly.

“You let them fall.” Frisk whispers in your ear.

“I had to catch you first.” You lie.

Frisk clutches more strongly to your neck, you worry, of course you do.


	4. Garbage Day

Frisk

You lie on a hard wooden floor, facing the ceiling and bobbing your head to a steady beat of  _boomchika boomchika_ with some _bluh_ s thrown in.

The world feels a little farther away and you start to feel like you're floating, you don’t know how long you spent on your back on the stiff floor.

It’s relaxing up until the CD starts skipping.

“Oh,” Naspstablook floating up, “Oh….it’s scratched...” It’s emotionless voice wavers and you put your hand out to comfort the ghost. Your hand phases through them.

“It’s good Napsta,” you finally speak, “I’m sure the crowds would like any remix of it.”  
  
“Thanks Frisk..” Napstablook continues to stare at the scratched CD.

“Where did you find it anyway?” You try to distract the melancholy spook.

“The garbage….I’ve been looking for something people haven’t heard before….or don’t want to hear again…” Napstablook floated lower to the ground.

You curl your legs up to your chest and stare up at the ceiling.

You give them a small smile, “everyone likes what you have so far.”

  
“Hapst-I mean Mettaton keeps wanting better...” You start to worry for your friends.

You clap your hands together, “show me the new routine.” You try to cheer the ghost on.

Napstablook gives a grim smile back, “it’s not done yet, but….I do have a new trick.”

"Go on." You excitedly lean forward. 

They start to cry, yikes, you look around for a distraction for them.

The tears float up and form a new hat, you clap your hands together again. “Good job!”

They form a bowler hat on top of their head.

Napstablook smiles, “it’s a work in progress.”

“They’ll love it.” You try to encourage the fellow.

You make the ghost blush and begins to float around again, “do you want anything?”

“Uh,” you remove the headphones completely.

“We have ghost soda, pizza, this really old cheese, and some, uh, no that’s it…”

“Cheese?” You perk up.

“It’s bad…” The ghost looks down sulkily.

“No, I have something, it will fill us with...determination.” You could use some of that recently.

“Okay,” they say in a small voice, “whatever you want Frisk.”  
  
“Come on.” You gesture towards the door, picking up the cheese in the process.

You wonder around the underground until you come across another mouse hole,

“Here we are.” You place the old-ish cheese in front of the hole, you were always curious about what this mouse looked like, “this will cheer you up 'blooky.”

The ghost tilts its head at you. “I’m not down Frisk….I’ve been happy since we went above ground three years ago.” It gives a watery in not unconvincing smile.

You look away and frown at the ground. The ghost looks around, seeming to put something together.

“Did you need some...determination?” Napstablook seems concerned.

You don’t respond right away, instead hugging your legs to your chest.

“Hey….Frisk…” Napstablook says slowly, “I’m..not suppose to tell you this...but….” You look up curiously, opening your eyes wider. “Oh God….”

  
“What is it Napstablook?”  
  


They don’t meet your eye, “I saw something…”  
  
“Yeah?” You stare up at the ceiling again.

“It was from one of your posters….”

You sit up straight, “my posters? From awhile back?”

Napstablook nods, you practically leap to your feet.

“Show me! Oh God, ‘blooks, this will help a really lost person.” You try to pat them on the back. That still didn’t work. Napstablook puffs out its chest.

“Follow me.”

They start trecking deeper into the caves until they are back at the dumps.

“I’ve been coming down here since it’s so quiet. Humans are noisy...and I found music and then I saw this….” You concentrate on Napstablook, “Saw, a thing in the trash. It was buried in it and it moved and I flew away.”

You nod understandingly, but your heart speeds up, you were being given a second chance.

You lost the purple heart, Matty, over a year ago and had almost given up. Now you could return the favor of...something.

“Which one?” You look around at all the piles.

“This one...no...this one.” Napstablook floats between three different trash piles, “this one..”

You begin to dig. Hands submerged in sticky, grimy material, and god knows what else. Banana peels, old napkins, trash bags, papers, papers, papers, old DVD boxes.

You even put aside an old anime series for Alphys, she could torrent her own but nostalgia always helped people- or monsters.

Your clothes are filthy twenty minutes in and you're starting to feel sick to your stomach.

Napstablook looks on, “I’d help, but, uh, no hands you know.” They look sadly at their appendages.

You crawl deeper into the first trash pile until you reach the center of it, covered in pieces of broken glass, soda pop and pill bottles, you move onto the second pile.

“Oh!” You see a rumble of trash displacement from this one, “this one!” You hope it’s not a rat. You dig faster, turning your hands into shovels to get at whatever it was.

“Ow!” You cut your hand nastily on an opened can. “Ow.” 

You furrow your brow at the open wound and clutch at your hand, an angry gash on your right hand.

“Napsta.” You call, “I think-”

“There you are kid.” You look up curiously, Sans comes around the corner of the trash pile, springing up from the garbage like nothing at all. You scowl. “Toriel was starting to get worried about you.”

“Yeah." You try to hide your hand, "Right.”

“Geez.” Sans says under his breath, “she said you were getting moody.”

“Where’d you come from?”

“Ya, know.” He winks at you, “here and there.” You suspiciously stare up at him, you had doubts about Sans trustworthiness as of late. “Now, lemme me get out that hand.”

“How did you know…” You pull up your injured palm, it was dripping everywhere. “It’s not so bad.”

“Yeah, yeah, big tough Frisk.”

“I survived down here.”

“That you did Frisk. Now I got neosporin and we can do this the hard way or..the eas- _spray_   way.” Goddammit, you give a slight smile. “There we are.”

You let Sans disinfect your hand and bandage the cut, all while focusing on the garbage heap, waiting for it to move.

“Okay, pal, let’s go home.” He tries to pick you up, but you wiggle out of his grasp, _you were almost 13_.

“I’ve gotta find the soul,” you explain stubbornly, assuming Sans already knew most of this.

Sans looks up and seems to scowl at Napstablook, Napsta fades into the background, looking put out.

“You just busted up your hand. I don’t think going through germ filled whatever is gonna help that… Toriel will never let me hear the end of it.”

“She’ll forgive you.” You tried to make it pointed, the two had been spending a lot of time together.

Sans sighs, you pick at the garbage much more slowly now, carefully.

Sans sits down on the nearest pile and watches you, Napstablook floats up behind him, you can barely make out a conversation.

“Sorry,”

“Yeah. Thanks.” It sounded sarcastic.

You concentrate on your mission at hand until Napsta approaches you from behind. “I was probably just seeing things Frisk… I don’t think it’s in here. You're so deep in the pile, you’d think it’d….”

You take out your stick and desperately stab into the middle of the heap. Nothing happens. You sigh.

“See kid? Nothin’.”

“Don’t sound too relieved.” You aren’t giving up, you try one last thing.

“Napsta, what color was the heart?”

“Hmm... yellow?”

You take out a gun. The two monsters jump.

“Whoa, whoa!” Sans shouts, or at least expresses loudly, “let’s not play with dangerous firearms.”

He goes to wrestle it out of your hands, you struggle against him, trying to get it as close to the pile as possible.

“Let go Sans.”

“I don’t thi-”

The garbage pile rumbles and a bright yellow light rustles within.

You beam, “it’s here!” You emote.

“It’s here.” Sans repeats darkly.

You retrieve a special jar Asgore gave you and dive into the pile, it wouldn’t get away this time.

The soul struggles within and you clear a path for it.

The heart is just within your grasp. You grab onto the bright yellow soul with both hands. The world blurs around you, your vision smears, yellow fills your head until a whole new scene unfolds, trees and horses stand in the background.

 

“Like you’d come back from Mt. Ebott.” A smug voice addresses you, filling you with rage.

“It wouldn’t be any trouble at all.” You cross your arms across your chest.

“Yeah, right Quinn, you’d be gone in a fortnight and we’d all have to get a search party and find nothin’ but a ghost. Just like the story of bloody Susy says.”

“Hmph.” You turn your nose up at the boy. “I could survive a whole damn night down ther’ and I wouldn’t break a sweat. Ghosts aren’t real.” You kick the log in front of you.

“Prove it!” He taunts you.

Your friend pulls on your sleeve, trying to get your attention. She obviously didn’t want you to do it.

You don’t look back at her.

“Fifty bucks says I come back!” You aggressively put your hand out to shake.

\---------

A few hours later your hands are shaking and ears ringing, you did not believe in ghosts, but.... You sneak into your dad's tent and pick up a pistol. Maybe it would be a long night.

\---------

You take a rope and lower down into the bowels of Mt. Ebbot, you climb down slowly, confidently, you exhale, all there was was flowers down at the bottom. This would be easy.

“Hey!” Sadie calls from the top.

“It’s just flowers at the bottom!” You reassure her.

“Quinn Kendrick,” she asserts, “you be careful down there!”

"It won't be a problem."

You leave Sadies bright round face up at the top and place your feet down on the ground.

“Howdy!” You jump as a voice addresses you.

\-------------

You're running through the underground, feet scuffing the dirt and adrenaline rushing through your veins like battery fluid, electric and pulsing, exhilaration filling your blood stream. You smile.

The ruins surround you in all directions, but you have a feeling there is something beyond this that is even better.

You worries feel like light butterflies and you shoot another smiling vegetable on your way.

“Take that you varmint!” It turns into dust.

Monsters, ghosts, they were all real and this was easy. Your luck was just as good as ever.

You streak out of the ruins.

The visions get streaky: Snowdin flashes past, snow, cold, dogs, water and grasslands in all directions.

\--------------

You’re hungry. You’re tired, tears stain you’re face and you’ve begun to here something following you. At all hours, all the time, eyes on the back of your neck, burning the skin.

Monsters are always on your feet, and always demanding a human soul. You can’t find the exit.

\------------

You’re running down a long pathway, water underneath your feet. You’re holding a gun in hand and finger glued to the trigger.

“Stay back!” You yelp into the darkness.

Something chases, you aren’t sure what, but tumbling, clanking, footsteps persue you like a demon from a swamp.

“I’m warning you.” You shoot off your gun into the darkness, it ricocheted somewhere.

You run, panting, stumbling down the zig-zagging confusing walkway, there didn’t seem to be any end. A bright blue spear lands at your feet, two more follow like rainstorm of fatality.

You stumble and fall to your knees, holding your hat on as you crash to the ground.

You release the rest of your ammunition into the dark.

A fourth spear rockets to the landing behind you, a noise like thunder and splintering wood erupts and the ground trembles beneath you, giving way and you are plummeting to the earth.

A vacant dock rushes up to meet your face, water strewn with garbage, and a deep despair is rooted in your heart like a cavity: your gun was empty. It all goes dark.

\-----------

You are crying. Big fat tears that tastes like tainted salt shakes your body like a leaf.

She had died. She had made others die. She hadn’t saved.

“Quinn…” You whisper.

“Frisk….?” You kick the jar upright and dunk the heart into encasement before anyone can do anything.

You clutch the jar to your chest. You weren’t gonna let her go. She had helped you, just like all the others.

“Frisk.” A voice repeats. You let yourself be lifted up.

“You can’t take her!” You’re still crying for some reason, you can’t stop.

“No, it’s alright buddy, you can keep her.” You let Sans pick you up and lead you to the way out.

 **  
**Napstablook is the one to try to cheer you up the whole way home this time.


	5. Know Your Way

You pick up a glowing yellow jar and hold up against a running waterfall, the water tumbles off the cliff in torrents, the cavern smells like stale air and mist.

“It’s flowing down here, despite no one being around…” You hold the jar closer to the water, “doesn’t that fill you with determination?” You ask the jar pointedly.

The soul inside remains a dull yellow, it doesn’t stir. Sometimes it crashes itself into the glass straight ahead but it mostly seems to be in some sort of stasis.

You sigh and put the jar back in your pack.

Your attempts so far to inspire the fallen humans was a bust, but you weren’t going home yet.

You jog up to the path and search for a mouse hole.

You find one with that piece of cheese crystallized inside the purple rock.

“One day,” you address the heart again, “the mouse cracked open that crystal...and ate it.”

You crawl on your knees to the hole and start squeaking, your pants are covered in dust and the drip drop of distant water hangs in the air like eerie footsteps of a rain storm.

After a couple minutes you sit back down, “this is ridiculous.” You mutter.

You stare at the soul again and consider holding it in your hands, find out Quinn’s journey fully. You stop yourself, you’re not sure you want to find out what she, or your friends, did.

You bawl up your fists and pick up the jar, moving onto some other sight.

“Geez, kid.” You freeze in place. “That’s all it took to keep you going? A mouse hole? No wonder you were the only human to make it out.”

You turn slowly on your heels, trying not to move too fast.

“Flowey.” You address a yellow friendly looking flower that had popped up behind you. It nods at you.

Flowey studies you. “You’re not very smart, are ya?” He says per usual.

“You have the bodies.” You state, approaching slowly.

Flowey looks at you blankly, not responding but face contorting into a mask of disturbing ugliness.

“You’ve been looking for the human souls.”

You clench your fists and frown, of course he was still following you.

“You know where they are?” You prompt.

“It’s pointless,” Flowery growls, “they are weak. I’ve tried to absorb them all they do is fade away. Breaking a barrier was too much for their punny essence.”

You tilt your head, unsure if he was still messing with you. “You on the other hand?” You ask.

Flowey chuckles, “at least want a soul that means something.”

“I don’t need your ideas Flowey,” you move to walk past him.

“I’ll make you a deal!” Flowey barks, becoming more calm and friendly again.

“‘m not gonna give you my soul.” You roll your eyes find it almost ridiculous to be asked, Asriel wouldn’t want that.

“No.” Flowey seems to shrink somewhat, “I’ll tell you something you want to know. And in exchange…” Flowey’s eyes dart around.

“What?”

“You give me that heart that keeps blinking.”

“The one that buzzes?”

“Yes.” Flowey declares, “or else destroy it.”

You consider your different options, “what can you tell me?”

“I’ve seen your hearts around. I’m the only one down here you know.” They say dourly.

“And I just give that one heart to you?” You’re bluffing.

“Sure kid! You won’t even regret it.” Flowey pauses, “which heart do you want?”

You think of the ballerina slippers again, “The dark blue one.”

“Easy. Behind the waterfall.” You arch an eyebrow, he was being too helpful.

“That blinking one.” Flowey’s eyes narrow, “it follows you. Bring it to me.”

“Sure.” You lie. He must know your lying.

You turn around to go back to the falls again and then turn around in mid step.

“Oh and Flowey?” You remember, “What about the bodies?”

Nothing but solid grey earth behind you, the flower had disappeared into the moist dirt.

You frown, visions of a green shirt and yellow stripes fill your brain, you shake your head and concentrate on doing this first.

You hop along several steps and solve the puzzles that miraculously seem to be reset. You have a feeling some of the monsters are creatures of habit.

The dusty air and repressive mountain hangs on your shoulder tops, the memory’s of a panicked desperation to leave this place feels like a distant dream someone else was living.

Your feet hurt when reach a thick sheet of water descending into a yawning darkness below, you follow the stream with your eyes for a fleeting moment then look back up.

You wish you knew something to call, some way to gather their attention but nothing comes to mind.

You take a deep breath and then wade into the current, it pulls at your shins but you plant your feet firm and tread into the downpour.

The water fills your ears and drowns out all noise and you feel the pressure on your shoulders almost knock you over, you struggle through the flood into a dry, secret place. Grass grows in the corner and it’s serene like a feng shui garden.

The room glimmers with the reflection of the waterfall and the only noise is the busy tumbling of the liquid and your own chilled heart beats.

You manage to struggle out of your damp sweater and sit cross-legged on the floor.

You retrieve a stained tutu from your back and place in the grass.

You wait. You shiver, you feel the weight of Flowey lying to you pressed beneath your tongue.

You suppose in all fairness you lied to him too.

You start to stare at the faded notebook again when hear a beating, a brass sound like the clanking of a tuba against a metal bar.

You look around until you locate the noise from your pack. The yellow heart was ramming itself against the sides of the jar.

You sigh. It did that sometimes.

“Come on.” You murmur gently, “it’s okay.”

The heart keeps pounding and you try consider what triggered the response. Maybe this was it.

You hold her up to the water. To the grass. Back up to your face, and then towards the pack.

Nothing changes.

Finally you pick up her gun and places it front of her, that always seemed to cause some sort of response.

It glows brighter and circles the jar, trying to closer to the weapon.

“Come on Quinn.” You mutter. “Come back.” You cheer her on.

Then the banging subsides and the glow descends into a mellow mustard color.

Again, nothing.

You place the heart next the weapon and lie on the ground staring up at the ceiling.

You are almost back asleep until something starts playing behind your eyes, running, yelling, falling, falling, despair.

Your eyes fly open, breath ricocheting in your lungs like the push and pull of weights on your ribcage.

You look around until your eyes land on the yellow heart, you had slept right next to it, of course.

“Would you not do that?” You ask, “I don’t want to see Undyne...doing that.”

It had been hard to look her in the eye the last couple days, it had been hard to concentrate on anything else. No one seemed to get it anymore.

Toriel chalked it to your ‘moods.’

You chalk up to your dreams, your debt, your...something.

You turn and stare at the water, letting it pass before your eyes like watching a television screen set on static.

You're ready to accept Flowey was a liar and go home when something catches your eye.

Every 5th cycle of water carried a small dark spot. An unusual glimmer on the left side of the water.

It floats.

Your eyes go wide, you stumble over to the side of the torrent and wait.

It floats.

You put your hand out into the strong current until a dark spot is visible twisting and turning down the glass streams of liquid.

You grasp and grab and get you whole body soaking wet before you come even close to a very alive, very beating heart.

You yank it out of the water and fall backwards onto your backside.

Ow.

You blink several times before the visions over take you again.

You were crying, fat solid teardrops that clouded your entire vision, your throat and chest were tight and heaving, a thrumming in your head of a dark voice that kept repeating itself. Run, run, run.

You couldn’t make out what it said, but it prompted you to keep running, keep climbing.

Your clothes get shredded as you go but you don’t care.

You can’t come back from this. You trip, you tumble down into a gaping hungry mouth of a cave and fall end over end into a flower patch.

The lights fade behind your eyes.

\---------

You wake up what felt like a day later with the pleasant face of a goat bending down towards you.

“What are a terrible fall.” She croons. “Let me help you up little one.”

You stumble to your feet.

\------------

You are hugging a shifting gooey mass of green strings. It burbles in your arms and you hug tighter.

You proceed to reassure a small one eyed creature that you are not going to pick on them. This all feels very familiar.

You wonder back and forth across the ruins, traversing all the puzzles expertly until you make it back to Toriels house.

“I think I’m ready!” You chirp at the top of your lungs.

A chair creaks and sound of footsteps pad across the floor, Toriel enters into your line of vision.

“Ready for what...Addy?” The name sounds like an afterthought.

You put your hands on your hips, “you know what Tori.”

The great monsters sighs, “I don’t want to see you go...No human has made it out.”

“Yeah, but that’s cause they were turning everyone to dust! I’ve befriended every monster in the ruins. I can do it with the ones outside of here too.” You are filled with determination.

“Are you sure dear? I enjoy the company and,” Toriel seems reluctant, but not as reluctant as you remember her on your trip. “I’m not sure I can let you go with a clear conscious.”

“Tori.” You almost beg, and then run up and hug her. “I love you.” Toriel freezes and place and goes rigid in your arms, “but I have to go back. It was silly of me to leave so suddenly. There’s a lot to live for!”

You admire the girl quietly.

Toriel pats your head, “I’m sure you can innocent one.”

\----------

You’re wandering through a winding chilly path edged by snow, the air is crisp and fresh and you shiver in a short skirt fitted as the tutu you ran away in.

Everything feels light.

You pet dogs, you laugh at bad ice puns, you run through sharp puzzles and dance through attack upon attack. Pellets always coming at you from all directions, your head goes dizzy. You begin to get tired.

\--------------

You fight a dog couple. You fight them again. And again. Their axes beat down on your head, over and over and keep having to come back.

For some reason no matter how you dip and dive you can’t trespass the axes raining down on you.

“Why won’t you die already!?” You yell in frustration.

You somehow end up petting them into submission, but your hands are still clutching the end of your skirt.

You feel like biting something.

\-----------

Hugging isn’t working.

The slime covers your entire body, coating you in a solid mass of grime. Its attacks are relentless, your dodging skills are impeccable but you simply don’t have the stamina to keep it up.

You twist and turn before you land a headlong kick to the creature's gut. You hit again, and again, each kick more precise than the last.

A shroud of dust floats onto your shoulders. It tastes like justice.

You gather yourself up and head deeper and deeper into the caverns. Your feet are soon littered with grey particles, you don’t know how many Aaron's you pound into a muscle bound powder.

You wish they just let you flirt a little, swivel your hips and hope they show some mercy. But they won’t and neither will you.

\------------

You're deep into a glowing fields of grass and water as bright as sunlight. Your hands are thick with the cinders of monsters.

The turtle had called you vicious. Maybe you are vicious.

A cold stone of remorse plunges in your stomach, it didn’t feel like you would ever get out.

And what would happen if you did? Who would you be?

Your skirt is filthy with the grime of battles past, you start to cry, you throw off your skirt first, hiding it where people can’t use it like you did, you hide your shoes, you carry yourself listlessly forward.

You didn’t want to find out who’d you be once you got out.

You fall into the water face first, down, down, down and don’t climb back out.

\------------

You drop the heart with a vengeance and then have at least enough sense about you to bottle it as quickly as possible.

“It’s okay,” you whisper to the girl, tears staining your cheeks, “it’s okay. I’m here now.”

 **  
** You put Addy Macon in a jar and carry her home.


	6. Glamburger Delivers

You jog along the apartment hallways, trying to keep up with the long strides of your companion.

“Hey Burgerpants?” You speak up as they lead you up a second flight of stairs, “what do you think determination is?”

The cat employee flicks his ears back and forth, juggling a mess of takeout boxes in his hands, “keeping this job.” He grumbles and looks off into space. “Let me tell you now kid, never have hope. Everything is the same. Forever.”

You nod sagely, accepting his erratic gestures.

“And forget dreams.” His voice cracks, “one attempt on stage and that’s it, back to greasy glue filled burgers.” He rants and you let him go on about it.

“...shouldn’t try to please anyone but yourself. Attractive people will only kick you with their pointy heel and sing about how you’ll never get a date.”

“Yeah, but what do you think determination is in humans?”

“What? I dunno, little weirdo, I brought you here for a purpose.” He hands you a hot, if not slightly worse for wear glamburger bag.

“Now,” Burgerpants instructs, “go to room 412 and knock. I’ll be hiding behind this beam and pretending nothing exists.”

He slides an employee hat on your head, “and don’t forget to look cute! Tips pay my rent.”

You go along with this, he had just grabbed you on your way from school and told you to follow, and you had followed after all.

You adjust your hat and do end up knocking on the door of 412.

“Say delivery,” Burgerpants whispers at you loudly.

“Delivery!” You hear some rushing and footsteps from inside. You look around awkwardly until someone answers the door.

“Bratty!” A cat girl yells from the door, “our food is here.”

“Yaass,” She answered from the other side of the apartment.

“One moment, like we were so hungry.”

You present her the food, she does an excited little paw wave. Bratty approaches from behind and they stand besides each other in something that felt vaguely familiar.

“Check it out, they work at Glamburgers.”

“Yeah, I didn’t know you worked at Glamburgers.”

You sweat a little bit and hold the food higher.

“Did they fire that other guy?” You can hear Burgerpants breathing increase.

You don’t know what to say so you just stand there.

“He was so funny.”

“Like, he was really funny.” They look at each other excitedly and laugh.

“Do you remember-”

“It’s still warm.” You interrupt them, lying felt weird. Bratty reaches out and touches it.

“Oh man, this is going to be wicked good.”

“So good.”

They both take out their purses.

“Could we pay you in bottle caps?” Catty laughs.

“Really good bottle caps.”

Garbage. You should have guessed. They hand one fake pearl necklace, an action figurine, 5 BB gun pellets and a crumpled up 10 dollar bill from Lithuania, “For the tip!”

You accept them graciously, “thank you.”

“They are so much better service than that other guy.”

“We always ordered and no one showed up!”

They cheer you on before shutting the door and blaring a real Housewives of Orange county marathon. Your stomach grumbles.

You walk back to where Burgerpants is perched, hissing on the side of the railing.

“What if, what if I,”

You hand him the crumpled money and the pearl necklace. He takes a deep breath and pockets them, as well as wearing the necklace for some reason.

“You should have asked for money.”

You shrug.

“One more delivery and then we can go hang out outside the complex.” His eyes were a solid red color.

You approach a final door on floor three.

“Okay,” Burgerpants grabs your shoulders and pushes his nose up to yours, “I’m gonna need you to actually do something for me.”

“Can’t you make this one?”

“No way! Have you read those stories Alphys writes?? I’ll be mortified...but you have to say I’m at a children's hospital. Or saving the city! Or an actor. That outsells Mettaton.” His eyes shine under a warped looking smile. You back up.

“Alright kid? Got that? Deliver, say that, get real money.” You nod with lackluster, “and then I’ll tell you about determination.”

You grab the glamburger bag firmly and give Burgerpants a thumbs up.

“You got this!” He hides again.

You knock on door 200.

“One moment!” A voice calls from the inside.

You wait and shift from foot to foot, playing with the crinkles on the bag until a very blue, very nice looking face pops out.

“Sorry for the wait.” The nice cream bunny looks all around and then back down at you, “oh Frisk.” He smiles at you, you beam back, “you brought my food.”

He takes out his wallet and think this is easier than you thought.

“What happened to Burgerpants?’ He asks in a chit-chat fashion.

You tilt your head, “he’s uh, at the hospital.” Burgerpants tail twitches from behind the pillar, Nice Cream bunny notices. Oops.

Nice cream lowers his ears, “But he’s right there.”

“No...he’s not?” You to help but just end up staring at each other awkwardly. You exchange money and food.

“Well, tell him hi for me.” You agree and return with a generous tip, Burgerpants is in the hallway curled up in a ball and rocking side to side.

“He saw me. Like it’s that stupid coffee shop AU...Hospital…Alphys...” He mutters and rocks back and forth.

You sit down next to him, “He says hi.” You wait ten minutes for Burgerpants to come out of some stupor of getting no money and hiding from Nice Cream guy.

“Now kid,” He straightens out and walks you down the stairs, “I don’t think you're ready for determination. It’s real earthy, grown underground, but wait till you're older.”  
You hang out with Burgerpants in an alley before realizing it was getting late.

You sigh and take off back home, Burgerpants gives you the sound advice to give up early in life, you laugh a little and then wave goodbye. He was fun in small doses.

You get home and flop on your stomach and kick your feet in the air, placing your head on your hands to prop up your neck. Your bedroom glows softly with two hearts in jars, one yellow, one dark blue.

“Hmm,” your hand ghosts over the smooth glass containers.

“Quinn Kendrick. Addy Macon.” You call their names out.

Quinn’s soul pulses and bashes itself on the glass straight ahead, Addy’s twirls at the bottom.

You sigh, “don’t you feel anything?”

They don’t reply, you don’t know what to do for them.

Over the two months you’d seen their memories, their favorite ice cream, the monsters they knew, and how they died. Over. And over.

You fixedly focus on them until your eyes start to blur and you groan and thunk your head on the carpet.

You sit up and crawl under your bed, retrieving a bundle out from under it, you unroll the tattered blanket to reveal the pistol, tutu, cowboy hat and ballet shoes. All things you discerned were the two hearts.

They both perked up by the sight of the items, but nothing else.

You shake the weapon in front of Quinn, “come on, doesn’t this make you want to do something? Or maybe for this picture I drew of Greater Froggit?” You held up the picture and tried to inspire the two.

You begin drawing a new picture in crude crayons, this time of one of their families you had seen briefly in your last vision.

  
“Frisk!” You jump and shove the items under your bed again along with the jars. “Frisk dear.”

“You’re home.” You yelp as you slide out of your bedroom.

Toriel blinks at you, “yes,” She glances at the clock, “it’s seven. I said I’d be home by 7?” She looks around, confused.

“Oh. Yes, yeah, you did. Just lost track of time.”

Toriel takes her coat off and watches you carefully, she’d been very concerned with human ‘puberty’ recently and your actions. “Did you eat?”

“Yes, yeah, I got some glamburgers,” You admit as Burgerpants took a long ‘break’ with you and let you eat the rest of the deliveries.

Toriel tuts at you, “I made a meal in the fridge.”

“I, uh, yeah.” She gives you the ‘this is 'human puberty' and I’m concerned' look.

“I’ll eat it for breakfast?”

She exhales, “that’s fine. Could you do the dishes though? I have so many essays to grade and paperwork for the school.”

You make your way to the kitchen counter and turn on the hot water, sudsing up your hands to get at the reasonable amount of dishes.

Toriel mumbles to herself under her breath about grammar and bibliographies. She had been appointed principal of the first monster-human school, but substituted in the classroom more often than not.

“...and the mitochondria goes through- no…and the cell divi- no.” She murmurs and takes a very fancy green pen and writes long comments with encouraging faces under them.

You finish the dishes quickly, and shuffle back over to her, wiping your hands on a cloth as you go.

“Frisk, could you tell me if this is A or B+ material?” She tries to hand over on essay analyzing Death of a Salesman, “wait, wait, no that’s unethical.” She takes the paper back and rubs a paw through her ruffled hair.

You pat her shoulder affectionately.

“You’re right, you’re right, they’re a good kid, A it is.”

She flips through more paperwork and you look over her shoulder amiably before getting out your own homeworker. Which you never used to do before you fell into the underground, but your mom being the principle changed all that. You try not to think about life before the underground.

You fill out the 50 states on a map, Massachusetts was red, Colorado was green, Kansas you made a rain forest, just ‘cause. You are almost done when Toriel pauses in her work.

She sits back and purses her lips, closing her eyes placing one large hand over the papers as if that would make it disappear.

“What?” You ask leaning over to peek at her, coloring California sunflower yellow.

She exhales and picks up the paperwork, sorting out the edges meticulously, “another human,” she starts, “is switching schools.”

She wipes her face and tries to smile. “That’s okay. We’ve still got six.” She sings, and turns to you. “And you of course you, Frisk.” She kisses you on the forehead.

You giggle and push her snout away, perhaps to distract her out of her mood. She ruffles your hair. "We'll get the humans to trust us."

"Assim-u," you try to work out the words, you just learned it, "assimula- It's hard."

She laughs in delight, “Yes it is. However! It’s time for bed.”

You nod and hop down down from your chair, “I’ll get ready.”

“And we’ll read together.”

You frown slightly. “I’m 13.”

“Is that a no?”

You go struggle into some pajamas and let her read snail facts and then Harry Potter to you.

When she turns off the lights you lay face up in bed, your head buzzes and sleep feels like a firefly just out of reach.

Unable to sleep, unable to leave, you remove the pulsing hearts and place them on your bedstand.

You take out their belongings and place them next to the jars again.

“What do you need?” You plead with the faint glimmers of energy.

You wear the tutu, hoping that would help, in the process you kick the pants you were wearing that day across the room and a metallic pling-pling dances across the floor.

“God dammit.” You curse under your breath because you’re 13 and you could.

You crawl across the floor until you come across the small metal BB gun pellets the girls had paid you in, you pick them and hold them up to the light.

The yellow heart perks up.

You look between the pellets and the heart, “yeah?” You ask.

It floats closer to the wall, you remember her last moments.

You pick her gun, quietly, softly, filling the slots each with a small projectiles.

“It’s loaded,” you whisper.

The light glows softly, and then harshly and then blows up like the sun, you yank the top of the lid off just in time.

A hollow thwooop resounds and a panting figure stands in your room.

She has one long brown braid, lightly tanned skin and a pair of pointy toed boots. She’s red in the face and crouching on the floor.

“Quinn.” You breath.

“Where is she?” She barks much louder than you like, “where’s my,” she reaches for the gun.

“Wait, wait, you’re not in the underground, you’re safe,”

“I-”

“Frisk! Is someone here?”

Quinn’s eyes flash around in fear, her body fading in a shimmer of daffodil yellow, “those aren’t real bullets.” She asserts, a wave an anxiety flowing off her.

The heart returns, rapidly flinging itself forward. You catch it, hands trembling and then return all the items to under your bed, except Quinn, you put her in your pack.  

“Frisk,” Toriel finally makes her way into your room, “I asked if…”

You sniff loudly and wipe your face, “sorry...it was a bad dream.”

She glides across the room and takes you in her arms, “I know, I know, sshh.” This wasn’t new.

“Do you want some hot tea?”  
“Yeah.”

You follow Toriel out but your head is already filled with what had to happen next.

You wait to be put back to bed, the instant the lights turn off, you pull on some jeans, pick up the soul jars and sneak out the door.

 

It was time to talk to Alphys. It was time to get some answers.


	7. A Red Heart

Undyne punched her fist in the air, “eat it!!” She hollered at the screen and stood and mashed the buttons on the controler, “Eeaaatt iiiitt.”

Frisk politely pressed A left and smashed her off the platform. You watch in lazy interest, resting your feet up and coming in and out of consciousness- mostly on the fault of Undyne’s yelling.

“Oh no, that’s not enough.” She made Samus up B and unless a swarm of damage onto Peach.

She did a precise blast and Peach is sent flying into a star in the sky.

“Yes! Eat it.” Undyne jumps up and down. She pats Frisk on the back forcefully, “you need to play with more passion kid.”

Frisk nods flatly, “next time.”

Holy shit, the kid was acting weird, no wonder Toriel told you to follow them more closely.

You watch Undyne chanel her personal passion into video games until you glance at the clock and find that it’s three.

You hop up and take out your cell, “be right back.” They don’t look up.

You dial some numbers and put it up to your ear. It rings twice.

“Brother!” A voice answers from the other end.

“What’s up Pap, how’s the UN?” Out of anyone Papyrus certainly expanded his role in terms of responsibility. Normally you’d be there with him.

“Splendid!” He sounds strained, “I, the great mascot-ambassador, have made friends with Angola. they promise many votes and a I get to meet their son!” He sounded excited.

“Great Paps, maybe we can give them all a tour soon.” You try to push for reasonable things.

“What a brilliant idea! It’s a good thing I was just thinking about it…” You talk to your bro as you usually do at 3 until 3:30.

“Well, gotta go, the living room got quiet, not a good sign.”

“I hope things are well at home and no one misses me too much.”

“It’s hard without ya’,”

“I know! I will return shortly though and my presence will be restored to the good complex downtown, which we were thinking of renaming.”

“Monster House?” You offer. “Scream Villa?”

“No. Terrible. Never fear, the great Papyrus will come up with an appropriate name.”

“I know.” You feel a slight ache in your chest. “Catch you later.”

“Yes, I will be caught at that time dear brother. Goodbye.”

They hang up and you stare up at the ceiling, zip up your hoodie a little more and shuffle over to the living room.

“Someone get bored in here or did Undyne just destroy the TV-” You pause and eyes dim, “where’s Frisk?”

Undyne was playing video games by herself in the shaded room. “I ‘unno,” Undyne button smashes with concentration. “Said they had to go somewhere.”

You falter, “they’re thirteen.”

“Exactly. When I was that age I was already challenging enemies twice my size, it’s time Frisk toughen up, you may hug your way through the Underground, but not every-” she jumps, “THING. Dammit.” Her character on screen dies. Good.

“Thanks.” You respond blandly.

“Did you do that?” She eyes you.

“Gotta go Undyne.” Why you ever made promises to anyone was beyond you.

You scour the apartments one nook and cranny at a time, you even check Alphys’s “secret” lab where she seemed to be making new flavors of ramen.

You start to get a headache, you are wondering down level two when you spot a familiar figure.

“Hey,” your deeper voice shakes the fellow, Burgerpants yelps and covers there ears, “don’t have a _cat_ -nipscion.” You grin.

“Jeez.” Burgerpants scowls at you, “Can’t you see I’m busy...and I’m not giving out free food today, Mettaton wrote an entire Opera about me living on the street last time I did that.”

“No, I don’t care, also that was hilarious, but you were with Frisk yesterday, yes?”

“Hilarious,” he grumbles to himself, “Italiens… tin can...”

“Seen them?” You prompt again.

“No, I haven’t Frisk, I’m sure they’re thinking about their life options and eating food from that goat mom.”

“Right.” You respond slowly, “but ya’ know if they wanted to go somewhere?”

“They asked about determination, embarrassed me and then we uh, they went home I mean.”

Determination, you internally groan, it was still going on.

“Why are you hiding outside this apartment Burgerjeans?”

“Pants. Let’s just say...tell Alphys ‘screw you’ next time you see her. She’s ruining my life.”

“Nah. But have a good one Hotdogcapri’s. Good luck with your rabbit.”

“ _Erg_.”

You turn a corner and go through a shortcut back to the Underground, this is the only place that made sense they’d go.

You check the core, Toriel’s house, the garbage dump, back to the core and then listen to the boat lady for the third time.

“So is it boat lady or boat man today?” You ask casually.

It just stares at you, “where can the boat lady take you?”

“Snowdin.” You say solemnly.

The boat gets up and leaps across the water in small little bounds.

“I am wearing 50 million pants today.”

You stare off to the side, “God, I would hope so.”

You’d also hoped you wouldn’t have to see this place again for a long time.

You trudge through the snow until your feet are soaked... _to the bone_. You chuckle to yourself until you get out your keys and jostle the back door open.

It’s as depressing as you remember, if not more depressing.

You wrench open a locked drawer and glance at a long list of notes you took. Notes in chicken scratch, in pictures, in desperation.

You sigh, “Frisk shouldn’t be time traveling anymore. That’s what says here.” Not that you’d remember it.

All the notes are from separate timelines, all old, all things like ‘pet a lot of dogs,’ ‘flirted with me, jesus,’ ‘killed everyone ...then gave up.’ You’re glad you didn’t remember some of these.

“Come on, give me something, where are they?”

Finally, on the very last page, your heart sinks, there was something. Something new in wing dings.

Hand-Diamond  Pointing hand-box-circle-circle-square-small diamond- small diamond.

Translation: **It follows.**

Thanks Gaster. Really helpful.

It floats, it follows, trash helpful is what it is.

You huff and shove the notes back into the drawer. So much more shit was happening, no rest for the wicked you guess.

You grumble and stiffly walk back outside, shoving your hands in your pockets.

You search Asgores house, Mettaton’s and finally arrive back to the last place you thought Frisk would be returning.

“Hoi!”

“Hi. Have a seen a kid in a striped shirt?”

The Temmie cocks its head at you, she stares blankly ahead, and you hustle past her into the village, “has anyone seen-” There they were, taking something from the Temmie’s paw, “Frisk?”

Frisk tries to grab the items and hide them quickly but in their rush spills them all across the grey dirt. They quickly drop to their knees to pick them up.

“Are those...bullets?” Alarms ring in your head like church bells. “Frisk.” You pick Frisk up, hovering their soul in the air like a weightless kitten you needed to drag home.

“What are you doing?” You ask as they struggle in mid air. “What is this?”

“What are _you_ doing?” They retort.

“Uh, not buying bullets from a village of cat-dogs with apparently have no moral scruples.”

“It’s not as bad as it looks,” they try to gesture and bargain with you.

“Enough. This is just weird kid.”

“It’s for the souls!”

“Those souls are nothin’, Alphys drained them of determination and then they broke the barrier.”

“Exactly! Also, how did you know that?”

You dart your eyes around, “it’s time to go home.”

“Okay. But let me get the bullets. Let me help her.”

The Temmie’s start to crowd you, “hoi! Tem ned’s to git paid.”

It sounded like a threat. You put Frisk down, they gather the little metal projectiles up quickly and slip money into Temmie’s hand.

Of course they’d be the only ones to sell bullets to 13 year olds.

You start to examine the ceiling, something felt off when you picked up Frisk’s soul, something nagging at your hand while you did.

**It follows.**

“Frisk,” you say shortly, “backup.”

“Are you okay Sans? You sound weird.”

“It’s been here…” You mumble to yourself and then step in front of Frisk, “it’s here.”

You reach out with your hand, following the tug of your hand when you picked up Frisk, it pulls you to the ceiling.

“This is it,” you yank a soul out of mid air. A pulsing multicolor heart appears, hovering, and leaning closer to the kid.

“There it is!” Frisk cheers, “I knew it kept close by.”

“This isn’t safe.” You bark, feeling unease crawling in your marrow. The heart lands on red.

“Get down!” You close Frisk’s eyes and throw a barrage of bones at the red beating heart, bleeding color and drawing closer.

“Stop!”

“That’s-”

The heart dodges with utmost finesse and then lights up like a red star being born.

“Pretty!” The Temmie’s coo at it.

A child who looked surprisingly like Frisk falls to their knees on the ground,

“Oof.”

“It’s one of them.” Frisk says in wonder.

“Yeah. The bad one.” Your eye lights up completely and you’re ready to go at it.

Frisk tries to get closer to them, you hold them back, “who are you?”

“Chara.” The soul replies hoarsely, “I am Chara."

Frisk’s eyes open, “how do you come back?”

“Your determination inspired me...Frisk.”

Chara opens their mouth to say more but you interject, “no more chit-chat,” you assert. “Frisk you have to know who this is.”

Frisk nods, “the first one.”

“Yes.” Chara grins and feel your heart turn to an ice fountain, maybe you should have been more preemptive on this whole human souls thing. “Thank you Frisk.”

“Stop looking at them. Look at me.” You raise your hand, “you’re about to have a bad time.”

Chara is lifted in the air but Frisk jumps on you like their life depends on it, “no!”

“Get off! My notes are clear as hell about this one.”

“You think violence got us out of this hole?” Frisk is yelling at you, subduing your hands by your side, “I got us out of there through compassion! And I say we shouldn’t hurt them.”

“And what?”

Frisk was shaking, little tear droplets in their eyes, they turn around slowly to face Chara head on.

“You can’t do much in this form can you?” They ask slowly.

Chara frowns like their puppy was just kicked, “no. I can’t.”

“You’ve been following me for a very long time.”

Chara nods, “it’s been a journey.”

Frisk reaches out their hand, “come back with me.”

You groan and look at the ceiling, the kid may have saved all of you, but they were naive if nothing else.

“This guy isn’t human Frisk.”

Frisk tuts at you, “we don’t just attack people. That’s not what I did, and not what I’ll do now...Anyone can change.”

Frisk was lucky they were cute enough for friends since common sense was knocking on your door and no one was answering.

“We have to try.” Frisk says firmly.

Chara reaches out too, hand ghosting through Frisk’s.

“You can heal me.” They state, a glimmer of red behind their empty eyes.

“We can do so much for you.” Frisk was going to reform an evil bastard. Great.

Frisk gestures for Chara to approach,

“You need to go in one of the jars though.” You lay out plainly.

Chara tilts their head, their light already collapsing in on itself and physical form dindling. “Fix me.” They stare impassively before disappearing into a red heart.

They jar the soul, Frisk grabs your hand and squeezes it roughly, affectionately. You have nothing to say.

“Kid, if this turns out bad...to the bone, heh, I’m gonna have to revoke some of your TV privileges.”

Frisk grins, “you didn’t fight them!” They cheer and you feel faintly guilty. “I’m proud of you. It will be worth it.” Frisk assures.

  
You on the other hand, don’t see this ending well.


	8. Hide and Seek

“Toriel,” you knock on an office door and then walk in immediately after.

“Oh! Sans.” Toriel lowers her glasses to look at you above her paper work, “how con _sans_ iderate of you to drop by!” She laughs effortlessly and you join in half heartedly, this might be harder than you thought.

“However, I do have parent night coming up, and the human parents have sent a lot of concerns,” she blows air at her nose, “which I am addressing of course!” She smiles and rubs her eyes.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be quick. I could get you some tea later too?” You offer politely, already feeling guilty about bringing this up.

“No, no, I’ll be okay... Bonely a little tired.” She winks at you, but then smile falters when she notices your stiff posture. “What can I do for you Sans?” She smiles up at you kindly, you’d gulp if you could.

“Well, you know how you wanted me to track Frisk a little more closely?”

“Yes!” She sings, eyes going wide, “has something come up?”

“No, yes. Just had a few questions.” You smile wider.

“Shoot away!”

“Well,” you try to set this up delicately, “they seem to have found some photos of that old human you, uh, had.” Real delicate, you almost groan out loud when Toriel's face goes slack. No dates in your future then.

“No! Where?” She looks around frantically, “I have to go talk to them. Explain.”

“No, no, they don’t want you to know...I just think they feel confused.”

“Of course, poor child.” She covers her mouth, obviously questioning herself. Ugh.

“I just had a few questions about this past human, ya’ know, to comfort Frisk with.”

“I mean, I could do that myself too.”

“They might,” you flinch, “want to a friend to do that. Outside source, right?”

“Right.” Toriel seems to think very deeply, tapping her chin and looking at the ceiling, “what do you want to know?”

“Could you describe them for me?”

“They were...an interesting child.” She exhales, and looks at her hands, “Asriel just loved him of course.”

“Chara.”

Toriel blinks rapidly, “yes...that was their name.”

“And what did they want?”

“Pardon?”

“Did they have any...interests?”

“Flowers I suppose. Drawing, children things.”

“Was anything...off about them?”

“Sans,” she seems to scold.

“Frisk may want to know.”

“He was fine little one.”

“Always?”

“Well,” she looks to her left and shrinks in her chair a little bit, “he sometimes drew...disturbing things. And, could be a little forceful. Unkind. Not to speak ill of the dead.”

The dead. Right. You remember the prominent smirk on their lips. Upturned. Taunting.

The need in your subconscious to destroy them was strong, and your notes said so too. But real information would be nice.

“How disturbing?”

“I always hid them. Tried to talk to Chara about the photos. But,” she took a deep breath, “they hated humanity, they really did. Fire, their earth on fire. I tried to comfort them.”

“Of course.” You soothe.

“They were unique. They always wanted to know more about monsters, what we were made of.”

“Magic.” You murmur.

She chuckles lowly, “they were so curious. Full of life.” She was getting misty eyed. You start to freak out.

“Welp! Sounds like good kid,”

“I suppose.” She sighs deeply.

“Anything to do with determination?” You lean in, hands in your pockets.

“Determination? No. What is is this about Sans?”

You slump, “nothing Tors. Just...a inqui _sans_ tion.” She gives you a pity laugh and you decide that’s your limit for discomfort for one day. “Welp, Tori, I’ll let you get back to the books!”

She nods, “yeah,” you turn to leave, “and Sans!” You pause.

“Yeah?”  
“When you talk to Frisk..” she touches her cheek. “Remind them I love them. And I’m here now. They aren’t a replacement.” Now _you_ might get misteyed.

“Sure thing.” Your voice cracks, “though I’m sure Frisk already knows that.”

You exit the room, making a beeline for the basement of the apartment complex.

\--------------

You make it down two layers of concrete to spacey room with a high ceiling and a clutter of lab supplies over the counters.

You stare up and around and whistle, examining the thick panels on the wall and the various tubes and plyers set on the desk.

“This looks very official.” You comment and pause to tap on a beaker.

“O-oh it is!” Alphys shuffles around the lab and nibbles on her bottom lip while rearranging supplies.

“As long as Asgore doesn’t know I guess.”

“Yeah, we can tell him!...And Toriel.” She squeaks, “I-I mean we could, but we shouldn’t.” She shakes her head, “they wouldn’t trust it…”

“Another lab. Yeah.” You know it’s not nice to tease her.

“But you're watching!” She bursts out, “and this is humans and determination, not monsters, and Frisk says this is a way to make up for...yeah. Yeah. This will work.”  
Alphys goes back up to seven separate glass jars.

‘We won’t let anything bad happen Alphys,’ is what you want to say. Should say.

Instead, you focus on the red heart. “You have to watch that one.” You repeat, having reminded her a couple times now, “it’s perten- _heart_.” You laugh, “Pertinent.”

“You think I don’t know that?” She murmurs under her breath.

“What?” You lean back.

“I am going to watch all of them as careful as can be! I’m the one that drained their determination to begin with. I’ll-I’ll be the one to restore it.”

You don’t reply and stroll around some more, “sounds like a plan Alphys.” You pause, “Frisk.” You nod off to the corner where a conveniently shaped trash can stood.

“Frisk?” Alphys looks around curiously.

“Frisk.” You confirm, focusing on the trash.

A beat passes, Frisk sheepishly shuffles out from behind the object.

“Hello.”

Alphys blinked quickly at them.

“Don’t you have school?”

Frisk doesn’t look at her, “I wanted to see Addy. And Quinn.” They assert, “and uh, PE was boring. We were playing dodgeball.”

You chuckle, “too easy I’d guess.”

They grin back up at you guiltily, “yeah.” They jump up towards you, cozying up close. They had been strangely friendly towards you since you spared Chara.

Which, yeah, probably helped you not reverse that decision.

“I’m sure Toriel,” you pause on her name, “won’t mind hearing about this-”

“No!” Frisk grabs your waist and buries their face in your coat.

“Kidding,” you ruffle their hair. They kick your shin,

“Not funny.”

“I think it was...Sansible.”

“Pfft,” they cross their arms and stick their tongue out at you.

Alphys looks between at you two curiously, “well, uh, nothing's changed Frisk.”

“But I’m here now.” They cheer and approach the hearts in the jars.

“Yeah,” Alphys cocks up an eyebrow up and looks skeptically at the little teen. “I guess that can’t hurt.”

“I brought the stuff so we can get things done.”

“I’ve b-been meaning to talk you about that...shouldn’t you leave those things here?”

They argue next to you lightly, you focus on the jar to the far left, glowing rouge, floating serenely instead of laying on the bottom or twirling around it’s case.

Red and pulsing. Red and still. You narrow your eyes at it.

Every instinct in you tells you to gaster blast it into thousands of pieces and then burn those bits in the fires of mount doom (you’d started watching human flicks). That’s why you had been talking to, and embarrassing yourself in front of, Toriel today.

Frisk takes out the pistol.

“Woah, woah,” say what you will, but at least you don’t let children load live firearms. Top guardian award. “Let me do that buddy.”

Frisk frowns, “will she come out for you?”

You laugh awkwardly, “heh, yeah?”

They tilt their head at you, but they hand it over.

“Alright, one soul jar kid on the way.”

You pop the ammunition into the slots, the yellow heart beats, pulses, rises, and then, from within the wrinkles, arms, legs and a torso shimmer into being.

“Hey, y’all!” A human greets, her eyes batting open quickly.

“Quinn!” She looks around questioningly as she looks around the room.

“Nice day to be trapped in a stuffy lab.” The girl was terse.

“Time to clean the tutu,” Frisk announces to change the subject and see their little friend.

They dip the tutu in warm water and some of the dust washes off. The dust of dead monsters. You don't say that.

She blooms from the dark blue heart like an unfurling flower in spring.

She blinks at them serenely, “good morning. Or afternoon, or, or.” She looks around for some windows you guess and frowns when it’s all walls.

“Hi, Addy.” Frisk approaches her and takes her hand to get her attention. They were a touchy feely kid.

“Hey girl.” Quinn leans in to greet her, you nod at the two in recognition, they stare you and Alphys warily.

“Have you found any more of the souls Frisk?” Addy asks politely.

Frisk practically wilts, “no.”

“Anything ‘about this ‘determination’ stuff?” Quinn queries, her question aimed at Alphys.

“N-not yet.” Alyphys says clutching the clipboard to her chest. “But we’re getting there.”

“Do you think…” Addy hesitates and searches the faces of the surrounding people.

“We’ll get there Ads,” Quinn pats her shoulder forcefully, she grunts.

“Okay, but real question,” Quinn smirks like a coy marmot and turns back to Alphys, “how is Mew Mew season three?”

Alphys lights up, “The worst!!” Alphys had got Quinn to watch anime with her in their spare time. “She kissed Momo and made him confess to Sakura. Just like in season 2! As if they didn’t learn their lesson and…” You tune their excited conversation out.

Addy and Frisk put their heads together and whisper, you think it’s cute. Sweet.

Frisk could use someone who understood the situation, you suspect they had been growing lonely.

“Tests!” Alphys announces after Quinn starts defending season three, “I have more tests for you.”

Quinn looks up and tips her hat, “well...couldn’t hurt.” They float over to Alphys, you survey the scene. This had to go carefully.

“Shouldn’t gather more of us first?” Addy worried about the others like she breathed.

“Determination is very tricky business, you two should be just fine for the project for now,” Alphys explained, proud to talk about something she had some expertise in.

“What do we have so far?”

“Well, first off, what I've gathered is that to get someone to ‘save’ again, and return to this world from the moment they er, passed on, they have to remember why they want to come back.”

“I ran out of ammunition.” Quinn looked down at her hands, “that certainly made me think it was over.” She was very rueful with an air of forlorn. “But here I am!” Quinn spreads her arms, “now we just need to get our bodies back from that goddum flower.” She punched her palm with her fist.

They all exchange a look warily, Quinn raises an eyebrow.

“Not necessarily.” Addy contributes, her brow furrowed, “we don’t want anyone facing him head on.” She stares at Frisk, “besides! Frisk always came with a body. It can’t be too hard.”

Quinn blows air out her nose hotly, “sure.” She eyes Frisk, you suspect, jealousy.

  
You watch carefully as Alphys takes measurements, shine light through them, tries to move their souls around. Frisk sits next to you and makes little commentaries.

The girls start to get tired, and you have an idea.

“Alphys!” You say, “it’s been a long day. What about a break?”

Alphys looks up, “like what?” The glimmer in your eye tells you she wants to take them to watch anime again.

“Frisk?” You turn to the kid, delighted by their easy excitement.

“Well, we are kids…” They trail off, “how about hide and seak?”

The girls perk up and look at each other with a light in their eyes.

“That sounds a little silly,” Quinn crosses her arms and then smirks, “but I was always a winner at that.”

Frisk rolls their eyes, “I’ll be it. And then everyone hides.”

“Uh, is that how you play the game?” Frisk explains the rules to the both of you, you shrug and agree, you could probably find a nice place and take a nap there.

Frisk closes their eyes and turns around, “1, 2, 3, 4, 5....”

You find a place behind the radiator and close your eyes.

You would have fallen asleep too if something hadn’t caught your eye. A red glimmer, a sliver of a maroon moon. Oh, great.

They were hovering like the sun above the Savannah: ready to burn everything in its path.

Every inch of you tells you to dunk on the little bastard Chara as soon as possible.

They face you and frown as they float closer, “you don’t like me very much.”

“How are you out of your container?” You stand up straight and try to look menacing.

Chara snorts, “I’m not like the others. I don't need you guys."

“Sure. And that will totally get us to help you.”

“You _will_ help me.” It was a demand.

“And then what?”

They smile, “you’ll see.”

“Okay,” you grumble, “back in the box for you.”

They eye you, “don’t I get to play with the other kids?”

“Only if you were one. Come on.”

They stay in place, eyes unfocused and staring out at Frisk now rushing around the large complex looking behind corners.

“It’s funny they look like me.”

“It’s funny you’re still allowed to be around here.”

“They like me.”

“They think they can change you.” You grab onto the little glowing spirit, they struggle and growl at you in midair.

“And you don’t believe them?”

You narrow your eyes, “not from what I’ve heard about you from...myself.”

They don’t look at you and then start to glare, “Heh. No one wants to be good like Frisk. It doesn’t make sense...I’m sure you know that.”

“Yeah, yeah, you’re evil, come on now, down the catwalk.”

They follow you reluctantly back to the main lab and Frisk watches you carefully as you force Chara back into the jar.

You take the jar and place in a case with lock on it.

“What are you doing?”

Chara was becoming too much of a concern, “I’ve got to go do something kid. Until then, don’t let Chara out.”

“But--”

You turn a corner and disappear from the lab.


	9. Crisis and Aversion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey, I wasn't gonna finish this, but someone said they really liked the story and wanted to see what happened next, and hey, I actually have it written up until chap 12 so I thought I might as well publish

Chara agreed to remain in a jar like the rest of the hearts. Which you put in Alphys’s lab. Which you put in a safe.

Honestly you blame your own laziness for not defying Frisk and taking him out yourself. If you can. Not that you were in a hurry for Frisk hating you, which was becoming hard since they had become more affectionate since you spared Chara.

Months pass, and you almost forgot the drama of the underground ever followed you above ground.

“Sans.” Frisk calls, wondering down the hallway to where you were ‘working.’ You pretend to sleep, even with a whole plate of fries in front of you. “Sans. Come to Snowdin with me. There’s been another sighting.” They call down a the hallway where the landlord's office is.

“What are we? Sailors?”

“Captain my, captain,” They walk in and salute, see? Weirdly nice.

You chuckle, “I sea what you did there. Like the ocean. See.”

“Geeet uuup,” They tug on your sleeve when they reach your desk. 

You feign resistance, “I’m afraid I have ten hours of paperwork to not do. And then go tell Pyrope to turn the temperature down. And then save Snowdrake from public heckling in the lobby-- ie upstage him with better jokes and then--”

“It’ll only be around for so long, no messing around.”   


You heave a deep sigh, “oh no. Wouldn’t want to miss soul express. Soul-lar landing. Soul train.” You tap your chin, “soul…”

“I’ll tell Toriel your weird secrets if you don’t,” they wag their finger at you, “like the sock drawer and the star you were gonna buy for her birthday but lost the certificate and Papyrus had to spoon feed you icecream-”   


“He forced that on me, I was framed,” You stand up faux-indignantly. “And how will you do all that, when you can’t even reach the ground.” You suplex them up like your Undyne and Frisk is a boulder. Or at least try to in jest.

“Ugh.” Frisk is giggling as you lift them off the ground and then collapse back down, “you’re getting too big kid.”   


“I’m taller than you.” They put their hand out proudly. 

“Well, well, and I didn’t even need to buy you star for your birthday.”   


“You got me a joke book and a key.” They remember and then start to pull your arm again.

“Yeah. Keep that on you kiddo.” You remind gently, they seem restless and unperturbed. 

“Walk, walk, walk.” They kick at your shins until you finally troupe out the door. 

“Alright, alright, kiddo. Gee.”

They pause at the door and glide alongside you, looking off into space and then back at you.

“What’ll you call me when I’m not a kid anymore?” They ask, tilting their head to the side.

You pretend to consider, “hmm.” You tap your fingers together. “Goat.”   


“Pfft.” They push on your shoulder, you get them to give off a genuine laugh. The outing wasn’t a total waste. 

“Come on, we have enough goats in the complex.” You snicker.

“And she makes a great pie.” Frisk says swinging their arms. “When not crying over the grammar in her monster-human war essays.”

You flinch, “rough. Should we go see her?”   


They pout, “Snowdin.”   


You huff and then snap your fingers, “got it.” You grab their hand and turn them down a corner, a familiar flash of nothingness passes before your eye sockets and then the air is brisk and still.

“Brr.” Frisk shivers, you shake your head. 

“Too much of a hurry to get a coat.” You tsk at them, “teens.”   
“Hey!” 

“No, I was a baby bones once, had weird cravings, milk addiction, you name it,” you mess with them, but their aren’t paying attention. 

“He was in the village…” Frisk mutters to themself. “He was here.”   


“Who?” You shouldn’t even ask, “your date, or cute skeletons house you got trapped in?”

They snort, “I was “trapped” in the garage numbnuts. And no, let’s try the buildings.”   


You give in and follow them around. 

“You know Asgore might be helpful for these ya know. Or Undyne?” You try to play out in your head who would be useful at these.

Frisk frisks through the empty houses of the townspeople, it feels a little dirty but nothing that actually bothers you..

“He scares them.” Frisk says flatly, “well, Quinn says she’ll,” they clear their throat, “put his head on a wall! If he comes around. They’re scared of him.” They rifle through a fridge for something.   


“Alright.” You nod, “yes, that makes sense.” 

“This one's empty.” You move onto the library. 

“Which one are we looking for again?” You yawn and pick through all the books no one bothered to take with.    


Frisk freezes, “I dunno, the dog just said it was a heart. Said they didn’t know the color.” Frisk smirks and taps their temple, “color blind ya know.”   


“I thought they could see,” you flip through some pages, “ah, never mind.” 

You give up a good twenty minutes in and just examine Frisk skittering around like a determined manic grasshopper. 

They start to droop though when you almost get to the end of the lane with no results.

“Alright...just the Inn and then the shop.” They declare once they finish scouring Grillby’s. Which sort of was a nostalgic experience.

“Let me get a few keepsakes.” You joke as you examine a deep cut in a table that read sans, good times.

“Alright, but hurry up, I want to be thorough with the Inn.”

“Sure, sure.” You go circle the tables and trail your fingers over the dust, rubbing the grit into your joints. It’s surreal.

You visit the juke box and find the special latch that lets you turn on the music, old human stuff, real crap, Love Potion number nine comes on, you snicker, you hope Frisk appreciates it.

You take a deep drag of all bottle of cheap liquor for posterity's sake and then seek out of the building.

“Frisk!” You call into the Inn, “come try this, we don’t have to tell Toriel.”

Juke music plays slowly, crackling in the background in bouts of static and ‘I held my nose, closed my eyes, I took a drink,’ “Frisk?”

Your voice echoes the halls like ricocheting bullets.

*

“Frisk?” You crane your neck around, wondering from hotel room to hotel room. It seems the same as you recall, dark, empty, and except now gathering dust.

“Ya’ here?” You are starting to think they went and looked somewhere else when the sound of shuffling feet against carpet comes up from behind you, “aw!” You clap your hands when you turn to find them,

They remain impassive, “there you are.” You pat them on the back, they don’t react, you start to sweat. 

Finally, Frisk floats their head in your direction, “let’s go to the lobby.”   


“S-surre thing.” You trail after them as they stiffly pad down the steps, you were shove your hands deeper in your pockets.

They make to the lobby, Frisk face is a wall and just seems to stand there, motionlessly, coldly. 

You shift from foot to foot uncomfortably. “So, uh, find anything? Anything unboo-usual? Like a...ghost heart...” You chuckle and glance around the stiff air.   


They drop their bag to their feet, take their coat off, “Frisk?”   


Frisk turns around in one fluid motion, you take one step back. They speed walk up to, grab the  front of your jacket and push your cheek to their lips.

“Woah, what, Frisk, Frisk.” You protest because you can still talk over their violent kiss. They grab onto you harder, “no need to get  _ Frisk _ y.” You protest.

Frisk tries to kiss you harder, wrapping their small hands around your collar bones and pulling, this was the last straw.

“Frisk!” You yell, pushing their attack back, “what the hell do you think you’re doing?”   


They are pushed several feet away, water is leaking from their eyes, hands lifted up like they were being arrested, “I am trying to forgive you!” They cry out through wet streaks flooding their face.

Your heart drops, “what?”

Frisk breath shudders and they sniff, they reach out a pick out a net with an orange heart glowing from within.

The whites of your eyes grow large. The one with the bandana. Right. Had he come out and talk about his, well experience?

“What do you mean Frisk?”   
They cry harder before wiping away the tears and opening their eyes the entire way, “you killed them!”

You deflate, “where did you…” You can’t deny it.

“I can see their memories Sans! I saw you, I saw him, I...Do you even feel bad?”   
You feel your sins crawling on your back. 

“Frisk...I was a sentry, I told you, I told you!” You repeat, clenching your eyes together, “Before Toriel...Humans were dead on the spot. Asgore needed souls, everyone needed souls. Someone had to do it, of course, I looked for any excuse to not do it.” 

Frisk just shook their head, shook it and then increased in intensity. “All this time. All this time, I was sparing and mercy towards monsters, you judged my ‘sins’ Sans!”   
“Yeah, and were,” you bite your metaphorical tongue,  _ you are better than me _ .

“And no ne had the decency to do the same.” Frisk cries harder, “they were just kids.”   
“They were killing us.”

They clutch harder to the nest and then turn away from you again, “I trusted you as the only one, and now…” They trail off, “I can’t forgive you.” 

They turn hot on their heels and sprint towards the door, wearing no coat and blindly running into a snow storm.

“Frisk!” They were gone, rushing into the dim half-light of the cavern. There was a reason you didn’t want to investigate all this. 

“Frisk.” You trail off and hang your head, before exhaling deeply, “time to go into the snow.”   


You give them some distance and then follow after, you can’t leave a 15 year old out there on their own. You mean, not again like when they were 8.

You walk. And walk. Now and then considering going to consult your notes, see if anything's changed. 

But you keep going, it feels like an exertion you almost you deserve at this point. Who are you kidding, you deserve it. 

You walk past the puzzle where you fall and find very dilapidated snow sculptures of you and your brother, you kick the pile that was yours. 

You were just doing to job, the kids weren’t Frisk, you made sure you took out the ones that were hurting people. All two of them.

This was, it was.

You keep walking, the woods get thicker and a clearing arises from just up ahead. You take a break on one of the large boulders, sitting back and contemplating the situation.

“Ugh.” That summed it up. 

“Kid realized you monsters are shit, huh?” A high pitched cheerful voice confronts you.

“Flowey, I’m not in the mood, so fuck off unless you want to become fertilizer.”

“Haha,” Flowey chuckles, “not very clever aren’tcha?”

“Clever enough, glorified weed.”

Flowey blinks at you, taking aback by your uncharacteristic mood.

“Look, I have some things to talk about.” They get down to a sort of business, some people loom in the background from behind trees you note.

“Who are they.”   
“Oh?” Flowey’s face contorts into a grotesque mask, “you might recognize them.” Two humans step out of the periphery. 

One wears a light blue blouse and a slight frown on her lips, the other is a tall boy with jet black hair and clenched fists.

They are both covered in vines and vice grip of foliage, but besides that their bodies are well preserved. Blank, unstaring looks fill their faces. You have a sneaking suspicion they can’t talk.

You recognize them alright. The knife and the gloves.

“What do you want? And what will it get us?”   


Flowey smirked coldly, “the red heart. I wanted it, Frisk is not pulling through.” 

“Flowey and Chara. What another great combination.” You remark dryly.

“Unless you have the heart to kill another child. Human. Whatever these are.”

You don’t reply.

“What are you doing with these bodies?” You ask without inflection.   


“Nothing. They weren’t being used anyway.”   


“They could be.”   


“If these humans had any two-sense they would re-set with new bodies, but they don’t, I get them.’ Flowey snaps. 

You sigh, “I don’t think you understand which side I’m on.”   


“I understand you probably hate that red heart. Even if you don’t understand why.”   


Again, you don’t respond. 

“Those bodies at least need to be in the ground, above ground.” 

“I’m not going over this again.” Flowey responds tersely, “cooperate or,”

“Or I get nothing.”   


Flowey rolls their eyes, “I’ll help Frisk. Tell ‘em about determination, maybe give their favorite body back. Whatever.”   


Sans looks on flatly, “so?”   


“So, you like the kiddo.”   


“Not like that!” You throw your hands up, remembering the last incident.

“What?” 

“Uh, nothing. But no deal.” You start to walk away, “find some other schemes.”

“You are not very clever are ya?” Flowey yells after you. You ignore them.

You keep looking. You don’t find Frisk.

**Author's Note:**

> my fandom/writing blog is http://insomniac-arrest.tumblr.com/


End file.
